I’ve had two bikes stolen in my life. Both were locked, one outside of my dorm when I was a freshman at the University of Colorado, and another to a fence just outside of a summer sublet in a quiet Boulder neighborhood last year.

I also once locked a bike to my front porch and lost the key. It stayed there, chained to the wooden railings by the porch swing, for the better part of two years—even after I’d moved away—until one of my best friends went by with a chainsaw, freed it, replaced the rusty gears and gave it back to me as a graduation present.

So how hard is it to steal a bike? Would anyone question you if you took a bolt cutter to a bike lock in a public place? If you saw someone doing that, would you say something?

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About
Merete Mueller

Merete is a writer and filmmaker, and was once-upon-a-time the Managing Editor of elephant journal's print incarnation, from 2006-2008. Today, you can find her on Twitter @meretemueller and on her blog To The Bones. Her first documentary, "TINY: A Story About Living Small", about people who have downsized their lives into homes the size of a parking space, premiered at SXSW in March 2013.

Comments

10420911 Responseshttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.elephantjournal.com%2F2010%2F12%2Fhow-easy-is-it-to-steal-a-bike%2FHow+Easy+Is+It+to+Steal+a+Bike%3F+%5BVideo%5D2010-12-03+22%3A00%3A39Merete+Muellerhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.elephantjournal.com%2F%3Fp%3D104209 to “How Easy Is It to Steal a Bike? [Video]”

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Nancy S: That's amazing, but not surprising. I once locked my keys in the trunk of my old Nissan Sentra in Queens. I went into the house and got a hammer and screwdriver to break into the trunk (it had been broken into before, so I knew how it was done.) I had a little more difficulty with it than an experienced criminal, so a passerby stopped to help me.

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Jeff M: Nancy, that is weirdly funny.

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Katherine C: I think a lot of people simply assume that if you're not being "sneaky" about it, it's yours to begin with.

Even watching the video (knowing you are stealing bikes) you look so calm and determined, with your pant tucked in like a biker, i totally feel like it's your bike and you lost the key. I doubt i would have said anything if i'd seen you on the street.

A wa locksmith told me that it is easy to steal a bike if a person has the right tools. I guess that we people should park their bike where there are security guards or a place where there is a CCTV cam.

I think the locksmiths should get an idea to make the entire construction strong than just to make the locks strong. Like no matter how strong the locks are, the things which are locked using these locks must also be 20 times more stronger to ensure a better protection. And the bikes are easiest.

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